Day 18 - Madrid - El museo del Prado

Today we got up late. We were very tired so we decided to take it easy. We had a late breakfast at noon(!), hung around the house and hen took an Uber to the Prado museum. Gregory did his research and you can actually go for free from 6:00 to 8:00pm but we wanted to avoid the crowds and the heat. It is extremely hot to be outside touring the city. We got there at 2:00pm. We all got in for free with our teacher and student ID cards, except Gregory but it was really worth it. For the record, the regular price is 15 euro.
Thanks to Gregory's research we focused on the well-known paintings of famous painters like Goya, Velazquez, Rubens, Botticelli and Bosch.
I was very happy to see Sunshine so excited about going to the museum and recognizing some of the popular paintings like Las Meninas by Velazquez and La maja desnuda by Goya. It was very exciting to see these famous paintings in person! It's one thing to study them in books and see them on the Internet, but it's really special to be standing so close to them!
Actually, I was quite impressed by the way both kiddos walked around, making comments about the paintings and not complaining about being hungry, bored or tired. Actually, I was the one acting like a little kid and was ready to go around 5. Like in all museums, it's hard to find the exit or you get distracted looking at other paintings. We finally left just before 6:00. We say the line for free admission that stretched around the entire building!
We then took an Uber to Plaza Mayor and walked around looking for a place to have some tapas and "tinto de verano" which I highly recommend! It's red wine mixed with a little soda, or just sparkling sweet red wine. We found a cute cafe bar and ordered some food and a jar of sangria. The heat was unbearable but we were happy with our drinks. After 8, we decided to walk around the plaza for a while. The sun was still out shinning. We stopped for some ice-cream in another store and checked our email. After that, Gregory and Daniel went to the grocery store to get provisions for tomorrow and Sunshine and I walked home. 
We should go out -- the city is alive, we are in a very central zone with lots of students but we are tired and personally, I miss sitting on the couch to watch a movie at home with popcorn, and that's what I plan to do right now.

 TIP: Remember to bring your child's student ID as well as your teacher ID if you have one to get free entrance to some of the museums or at least get a discount. The family in front of us got denied free entrance for the kids because they didn't have ID.

Sunshine admiring Las Meninas

Lili and Sunshine in front of La maja desnuda

Daniel in front of Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights





In Plaza Mayor. Too bad the waiter was facing the wrong direction!

Here's mine! What are you drinking?

Apparently, you can legally drink at 15 with parental consent. Sunshine is thrilled to taste sangria!



Lili, Sunshine and Daniel in the Plaza Mayor, 8pm and it's still hot!



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 15 - Tangiers

Image
Today we woke up at 9:00 am and went downstairs to our usual cafe to have our last breakfast there. The waiters already know us and what we like to drink. After breakfast, we went back to our place where our host, Rachid was waiting for us and said: why didn’t you wait for me, I would have paid for breakfast like yesterday”. He never made it very clear if breakfast was included or not, in any case, food is inexpensive in Morocco and we said that it was fine. We decided to move to another house where we can have a common area for the family plus a kitchen, not that I want to cook. Also, Rachid’s place was quite noisy and we were in need of a good night’s sleep. We thanked our host and took a taxi to our new place, which was not far away from where we were. Actually, it is very close to the Catholic cathedral. Our new place is a much bigger and more modern apartment. It is not as fancy and traditional as our previous one, but this will do for the extra two days that we are stayin...
Read more

What I Learned from This Trip

What have I learned from traveling for a year? The last homework assignment for my kids was an essay about what they learned about our trip around the world. I told them that Gregory and I had to do it as well. Here I am, in front of my laptop and not knowing what to start with. I know it will be me who has changed and not the people or the places around me. I know this by experience because I have been away before and I know that the biggest changes happen inside you, in the way you see things, your perspective changes and I believe that’s where the growing happens. Right now, we might not be able to see it because it is too soon, but once we go back to our routines and our daily old lives, we will see, feel and live the change. I’m happy to say that one of my biggest dreams was to travel around the world. I always wrote in my journal that I wanted to visit more countries or just travel more with my family, but I always wrote them as a wish, a dream and I never really worked to make ...
Read more

Day 309 - Lunch with Gregory’s friend Axel - River Bus - Golden Mount Temple

Sunday, May 12, 2019. After last night's adventure, we told the kids they could sleep in today. Around noon, Gregory and I went to meet Axel, an old German friend of Gregory's. We had a delicious lunch at Coffee Beans by Dao. We had a lovely time chatting until 3:00pm when the waiter told us that they wanted to close the restaurant. Axel drove us back to our hotel and we promised to get together next time with his wife and daughter, who is two years older than Sunshine. The kids had a wonderful time resting in the room and went out for lunch on their own. They are so aware of their expenses, they told us that a bottle of water cost 60 THB at the restaurant, and in the market, it cost 10! So Daniel went to the 7/Eleven and bought a bottle there. I guess they have learned to live on a budget since that’s what we have been doing. The kids wanted to stay in the room but we decided to take the boat ride to see some of the city. They still whined and complained but we made them do i...
Read more